This disclosure relates to a door check for a vehicle door, and more particularly, for a vehicle passenger door.
Passenger doors are conventionally held opened and closed using a door check. A passenger pushes a button or engages a handle, which unlatches the door enabling it to swing open. The door check is interconnected between the frame and door and includes detents that define discrete door open positions, which hold the door open. When the door is opened or closed the holding force of the detent is overcome.
A conventional door check only provides a few discrete door hold open positions that may not coincide with the most convenient door open angle for the passenger to ingress or egress the vehicle. Passive infinite door checks solutions such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,777 have been proposed to address this shortcoming. However even such a device can provide an inconsistent feel when the holding force of the detent is “released” depending on the attitude of the vehicle. For example, if the vehicle is parked on an incline, when released from a hold position, the door may feel as if it may suddenly close due to the weight of the door. A further shortcoming of the prior art is that door checks cannot be used to prevent the door hitting an obstacle when the door is swung open in a tight parking situation, which is desirable to prevent costly repair to the door.